6] general balm. It was thought that, as Donne puts it in one of his verse letters, "In everything there naturally grows / A Balsamum [balm] to keep it fresh and new." hydroptic: dropsical. Back to Line

7] Miss Gardner notes that in Hippocrates' famous description of the signs of imminent death the dying man huddles at the foot of the bed. Back to Line

31] prefer: be able to select and reject. Donne is comparing the powers possessed by man, beasts, plants, and stones. Grierson quotes from a sermon in which Donne says that even stones, though they have not even a vegetable soul, "may have life'' and may therefore select and reject, i.e., "detest and love." Back to Line